Apple Company

Apple Company

Introduction

Apple Company revolutionized the field of personal computers in 1970s with its Apple II and Macintosh computer. The company strives to bring the best computing experience to professionals, students, educators, and all other consumers around the world. Apple Company achieves these visions through innovative and creative hardware, software, and internet.

The field of computing is crowded and very competitive. However, despite these factors, Apple continues to enjoy tremendous growth both in revenue and clientele base both in the domestic and international market. This paper seeks to examine the global status, management, strategic planning, and marketing trends that favor Apple in the face of stiff competition in the field of computing. The paper will further present the SWOT analysis of Apple Company with a view of making meaningful projections.

History of Apple

The origin of Apple dates back to 1976 when Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs hatched the idea in their twenties in Cupertino, California. Steve Wozniak, a talented engineer, helped with the idea of assembling computers (Linzmayer and Owen 2). The two later sold their possessions to start a small assembly in a garage where they supplied early computers housed in boxes. Steve Jobs always had the vision of creating a large company, and as a result, hired Mike Markkula, a former marketing manager for Intel Corporation and Fairchild Semiconductors. Mike Markkula bought about a third of the company and assisted Steve Jobs with the business plans.

The release of Apple III to the market targeted breaking the dominance IBM had on the computing market. However, taking Apple III to the market without proper testing made most of the units to prove defective. This further prompted the discontinuation of its sales in 1984. Despite this unfavorable turn of events, Apple Company moved on, releasing more software, opening European offices, and even releasing the hard disk. In 1982, Apple was the first company to reach $1 billion in its annual sales (Linzmayer and Owen 5). However, challenges were coming from the rival computing company, IBM. This forced Apple to introduce the Lisa computers that did not serve the sole purpose of breaking the competition offered by IBM. The Apple Company’s success took a down turn and the value of the shares reduced significantly. This scenario forced Jobs to hire John Sculley, a former president of Pepsi-Cola. This was upon realization that Apple Company needed proper marketing strategies.

Several events followed that led to the exit of Steve Jobs and the subsequent formation of NeXT corporate. However, Apple continued under the leadership of Sculley. NeXT Corporation offered stiff competition to Sculley, but Apple later acquired the company, and this saw the return of Steve Jobs to Apple. Around 1988, Apple had many branches in USA, Europe, and Pacific. However, as the case with many technology companies, Apple was never free from the cases of copyright infringement. With stiff competition, cases of copyright infringement involved companies such as Xerox, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard (Linzmayer and Owen 24). After losing the lawsuits, the ambitious Apple planners focused ahead. However, in 1990s the major concern for Apple was not the technological inventions but able and consistent management teams.

Apple suffered from lack of proper management until the return of Steve Jobs in 1997. The sweeping changes that included the closing of plants, reducing the number of workers, and discontinuation of licenses that favored cloning all brought the Apple Company back to line of fame and profitability. However, as the founder of Apple, Steve Jobs wanted to paint his masterpiece. In 1998, Jobs led the invention of iMAC, the most colorful and smart technology that revived the image of Apple Company (Linzmayer and Owen 30). The production of iPhones and iPads followed. Currently, the company has several subsidiaries in Ireland, U.K., Japan, and Netherlands among other notable branches. The principal competitors are Compaq, Dell, IBM, and Sun Microsystems.

Apple Global Operations

Apple Corporation is a multinational company that makes and creates electronics, software, and personal computers in more than 363 stores worldwide. The Apple Company has worldwide sales of about $ 16 billion. Though the company’s initial focus was on computers, it later shifted to the numerous consumer electronics (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson 23). Presently, the company sells iPod, iPhone, and iPad. There are also other software and operating systems such as Mac OS, iTunes, and iLife among others. Apart from the products and the existence of worldwide stores, the Apple Company’s vision statement reflects it worldwide perspective. The key aspects such as innovation, focus, collaboration, and excellence mark the vision statement of the company. There are several key strategies employed by Apple Company in achieving its global dominance. This paper will examine each strategy in detail.

Branding Strategy

Branding refers to name, tag, symbol or design, or such suitable combinations that serves to identify the goods or services of one seller from the others. Branding not only allows the loyal customers to identify the products but also allows the potential customers to identify the company as the sole provider of the service in question (Maha 17). Apple Company has established itself as a company with various brands that reaffirms the originality, guarantee, and trust that meets the expectations of the consumers. Apple uses several brands to compete in very highly competitive markets of personal computing and electronics market. In the line of personal computing, Apple uses Macintosh and its related software while in the line of electronics, Apple uses a variety of products such as iPhone and iPads. The company also deals in computing devices, movies, and the distribution of TV contents. Moreover, Apple offers competition to Google in the field of marketing through Apps and iAd network. Currently, the Apple Company enjoys revenues larger to those of notable players in the electronics market such as Nokia, Samsung, and Sony among others.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness refers to the extent at which the consumers know the existence and the key features of the product. Brand awareness entails more factors such as brand recognition and recall. Brand recognition refers to the ability of consumers to associate a particular product with its rightful manufacturer (Maha 17). Brand recognition exhibits itself when a customer can easily associate iPhone with Apple and not Samsung. Similarly, brand recall refers to the extent at which a customer is capable of recalling the given brand when presented with a logo.

 

Importance of Branding to Apple

Generally, branding helps companies to deliver clear messages to consumers, foster company’s credibility, and offer emotional connection with the customers. It also motivates buyers, and boosts customer loyalty. Proper analysis of Apple branding strategy reveals a pattern where the company targets the customer’s emotions (Maha 18). Apple capitalizes on the lifestyle, imagination, freedom, innovation, passion, and hopes of the customers among other useful emotional dimensions. Moreover, Apple relies on simplicity, ease of use, and customer-driven product designs among other humanistic aspects of marketing.

Brand Equity

Most companies create brand equity through memorable, easy, and reliable brand names. The creation of Brand equity can also be through mass marketing of the desired products. Brand equity is thus positive if the consumers are willing to pay more for the identified brand over other competitive brands. Apple has high brand awareness, which has led to high sales and greater marketing (Maha 19). Better brand equity also ensures that the Apple customers pay better prices for its products in comparison to those of other manufactures. Apple has also managed to create the rare sense of communal existence among its consumers. This promotes the sales of its key products among the loyal customers.

 

Benefits of Branding to Apple

Apple derives from its branding techniques several benefits. These benefits include emotional appeal, familiarity, premium price, and image. What follows is the elaboration on these factors to unveil the marketing strategies of Apple.

The first aspect is emotional appeal. This factor helps firms in targeting customer’s emotions with their product names (Maha 20). A strong and recognizable name will serve to shorten the customer’s decision-making process, as customers will not hesitate to choose the company’s product over other available brands since they can recognize what that brand stands for. Apple Company manufactures technological devices and the name of each device allows the customer to identify the relevance and usability of the product (Maha 21). The best example is the iPod touch that readily tells the customer that they can manipulate the device through touch screen technology.

The second factor is ability to memorize and be familiar with the firm’s products. Most brands help the firms to create good reputation and will. Apple customers will easily refer to the company using its name because they are familiar with the name through desirable products. The ability to remember any item comes from the strong logo, color, and design among others. Familiarity also has the effect of attracting other customers who may not be familiar with the firm’s product (Maha 23). Most loyal customers will refer their fellows to the brands. This serves to boost the clientele base for the company.

Other benefits of branding that Apple enjoys include the premium price, the extension of loyalty to new products, retention of customers, low marketing expenses arising from already known features, greater company equity in matters of selling shares and borrowing, and lower risks during sales.

Apple’s Target Market

The market target for Apple Company varies fairly from kids to adults. Firstly, teenagers constitute a significant portion of Apple’s market. Teenagers use the various products such as iPods for several intentions. These reasons include socializing with friends, playing music, face book, twitter, gaming applications among others. Additionally, college students also constitute Apple’s target market (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson 36). The students use Apple’s portable products such as iPads, MacBooks, and iPhones to execute their academic endeavors. The other groups that constitute Apple’s target market are the business people. This category of customers uses the same devices as college students but with the purpose of communication and completing useful tasks at their various workplaces.

Children and adults also form part of Apple’s market target. The iPods and iPads are easy to use and children can easily navigate through in gaming and learning. Similarly, most parents can download learning applications and offer the much-needed academic help to their young ones. The last group is the adults (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson 38). This category uses iPhones for their daily needs such as making phone calls, photography, driving directions, internet connections, and documentation.

Management of Apple Company

Around August 2011, Steve jobs left the company on grounds of ill health. This move saw the elevation of Tim Cook to the position of the CEO. Currently, Eddy Cue is the vice president while Craig Federighi is his vice (Linzmayer and Owen 16). Jonathan Ive serves as the senior vice president in design, Peter Oppenheimer is the chief financial officer, and Dan Riccio still holds the hardware engineering. Other vice presidents include Philip Schiller (worldwide marketing), Bruce Sewell (general counsel), and Jeff Williams (operations). Management has played a key role in the expansion of the Apple Company in the past. Much of the activities that led to the elevation of Apple to its present global status rest entirely with Steve Jobs; it is thus imperative that the current teams be evaluated based on the global challenges that face Apple company.

The key feature that guaranteed Apple’s success was the objective of simplicity. The current president, Tim Cook seems geared to this very goal. This key feature seems to set Apple apart from other companies. Similarly, there are several acquisitions within the Apple’s circle and most critics seem to point at a radical departure from Steve Jobs tradition of buying fewer companies. However, Cook confirms that the companies acquired are crucial and have intellectual property values (Linzmayer and Owen 34). This is evident from the July 2012 acquisition of AuthenTech. There was much speculation about the relevance of fingerprint readers, however, with the launch of Touch ID, the speculations died off. This clearly points to the fact that most tactical acquisitions are important for keeping the innovation and technology on the edge against competitors.

Several other acquisitions will guarantee the future of Apple as a technology company. The grouping of these acquisitions is in several groups. The first category involves mapping. In an attempt to mature its mapping services has acquired WiFiSlam. This young company provides mobile application that locates mobile users through Wi-Fi signals. This acquisition enabled Apple to produce iBeacon in iOS7 with its indoor positioning system. In July 2013, Apple bought Locationary Company, BroadMap, HopStop, and Embark for similar strategic and technological reasons.

Other than mapping, Apple acquires company with data management capabilities. In August 2013, Apple acquired Matcha.tv. The Matcha application could synchronize data from several servers and give a comprehensive view and customers can easily pick on the best program to watch. This acquisition was online with Apple’s TV plan. Apple has also bought Cue and Topsy among other acquisitions.

 

Strategic and Tactical Planning: Apple Company

The Apple Company faces competition from several other key players in the computing and electronics industry as a whole. The presence of Tim Cook alongside the other vice presidents should deliver the best items to the loyal Apple customers (Adams, Lashinsky 22). The leadership of Jobs was marked with simplicity, customer-driven innovation, and proper marketing. However, the global market structure is changing and Cook is adapting to ensure that Apple retains its relevance.

Apple: Marketing Approaches

The target market for Apple consists of children, teenagers, college students, professionals, and adults. In analyzing the market approaches for Apple, this discourse will consider two options: STP and 4P marketing processes (Thomas and David 500). The STP process consists of three strategies namely, segmentation, targeting, and positioning. Segmentation involves dividing the market into sub groups with its unique product requirement. Segmentation depends on the age, gender, education, regions, or lifestyle. Similarly, targeting depends on an already segmented market (Thomas and David 502). Once the market segments, the company decides on the segments to target with proper resources. Lastly, positioning, involves positioning a product in that market. Apple has positioned several products as premium brands and this perception covers all other products.

The 4P process, however, involves product, price, promotion, and place. Firstly, the product factor involves the goods and services that a firm offers. Apple Company offers a variety of products. Initially, the customers considered Apple’s products expensive, yet, Apple continued to expand its product base and marketing gaining loyalty at the end (Thomas and David 503). Presently, Apple competes favorably in not only the computing world, but also in other areas of electronics dominated by rival companies.

Secondly, the price factor is crucial to the success of a company. Apple sets the prices of its products high. The strategy seems to revolve around making the great product first, then allowing the price to come afterwards (Maha 4). The price of iPhone is high in comparison to the tablets from rival companies like Samsung. This is true despite the equivalence in the internal features.

The third factor is the promotion. Apple carries the simplicity of design of its products to the advertising field. The advertisements by Apple are simple, recognizable, persuasive, and memorable (Maha 6). This feature enables Apple to spend less in advertising than other rival companies such as Dell and Microsoft.

The last factor is place. This refers to the location, distribution, and other methods of getting the products to the customers (Maha 12). Apple uses online stores, physical outlets, and major retail points. Other than building company owned stores, Apple places its products in every electronic outlet all around the world.

Financial Position before and after Expansion

Apple Company started with the little capital amounting to $1,300 contributed by Jobs and Wozniak. In 1977, the total sales had reached $1 million (Apple Press Info 1). The upward trend continued and in 1982, the sales had reached almost $1 billion. In the year 2012, the company currently has net revenue of $ 156 billion and a profit of $ 41 billion. The financial statement in appendix one illustrates the financial position of Apple for the years 2013 and 2012.

 

Company SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis involves analyzing the company’s internal and external environment with a view of identifying key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Maha 6). Apple has several strengths. Firstly, Apple has a better position as producer of superior and innovative technology products both in the computing and electronics market. Secondly, Apple stands out as one of the original producers of different hardware for most of their machines. Thirdly, Apple has high quality products that meet customer requirements (Thomas and David 520). Fourthly, Apple has adequate research in technologies that enable the production of excellent products. Lastly, the existence of loyal customers who pay high prices for better quality is an asset for the company.

However, there are several weaknesses as well. Increase in competition, poor promotion for Apple TV, restriction of phones to single operators, low prices paid to musicians, negative effects of high premium prices, unfriendly proprietary practices on their software present clear areas of weaknesses (Thomas and David 522). In addition to the strengths and weaknesses, there are also opportunities for Apple. These opportunities include constant demand for electronics, desire for carbon free products, possibilities of joint ventures, room for international expansion, existence of market gaps, fostering compatibility with Windows among other notable areas. However, some threats are worth considering. These include high competition, low switching costs among consumers, trade barriers, loss of customers from high premium prices, and global economic downturn.

Conclusion

Apple Company is richly innovative, technologically on edge. Moreover, the operations in the company cover diverse fields such as engineering, programming, marketing, supply chain management among other notable fields. These key areas make the company attractive to any potential employee.

  Works Cited

Adams, Lashinsky. Inside Apple: how Americas most admired and secretive company really works. New York:  Business Plus, 2012. Print.

Apple Press Info. “Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results,” 2013. Web. 18 February, 2014.

Hitt, M., Ireland, R., and Hoskisson, R. Strategic management: competitiveness and globalization (concepts and cases). New York: Thomson South-Western, 2012. Print.

Linzmayer, Owen, Linzmayer, W. Apple confidential 2.0: the definitive history of the world’s most colorful company. New York:  No Starch Press, 2004. Print.

Maha, H. A study on the marketing strategies of Apple Inc. New York: University of Wales, 2012. Print.

Thomas, Wheelen and David, Hunger. Strategic Management and Business Policy: towards global sustainability. New York: Pearson, 2012. Print.

 

 

Appendices

Appendix 1. Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results, September, 2013

Source: Apple Press Info, Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results, September, 2013

 

 

Last Completed Projects

Are you looking for a similar paper or any other quality academic essay? Then look no further. Our research paper writing service is what you require. Our team of experienced writers is on standby to deliver to you an original paper as per your specified instructions with zero plagiarism guaranteed. This is the perfect way you can prepare your own unique academic paper and score the grades you deserve.

Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.

[order_calculator]